human centered design & engineering | human …...potential of the web.” andrew hinkelman,...

32
pos omm TC Autumn 2000 No. 13 An annual magazine for alumni and friends of the University of Washington’s Department of Technical Communication

Upload: others

Post on 07-Aug-2020

1 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

pos ommTCAutumn 2000 No. 13

An annual magazine for alumni and friends of the University of Washington’sDepartment of Technical Communication

Page 2: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

From the Chair

In this issue:

As we begin another academic year, it is a pleasure to note the department’s recent accomplishments, first among them winning the UW’s Brotman Award for excellence in undergraduate education for the year 1999-2000. This award, which we share with one other unit (the Compara-tive History of Ideas in the College of Arts and Sciences), recognizes the achievements of the department in its core area of communication design, in the science writing pathway associated with the publication of Northwest Science & Technology, and in the multi-faceted engineering communica-tion program that we’ve created for the UW College of Engineering. We are very grateful to the Brotman family for creating this award and to the UW-wide evaluation committee for giving TC this very prestigious recognition.

We are also delighted to announce the creation of the James W. Souther Endowment to recognize the lifelong contributions of our depart-ment’s co-founder, Professor Jim Souther. TC alumnus James Prekeges (’84), who last year launched the Myron L. White Endowment with a matching grant, has done it again for the Souther Endowment! This fund will further augment our ability to provide for our students educational opportunities that are not supported by public funding.

We also face new challenges this year, many of them the happy side effects of growth. We are welcom-ing the first class of students in our new Evening Master’s Program. We have added two new professors to our ranks, with two more to be hired this year. We have launched collaborations with several other departments across campus. And we are going for-ward with our proposal for a TC Ph.D. program, which if approved would begin in Autumn 2002.

I hope that as you read this issue’s stories about these and other developments, you will find oppor-tunities to get involved with our department. We welcome your support and participation!

-- Judy Ramey

Department NewsTC Wins Brotman Award....................................1Evening Master’s Program...............................2New Faculty ......................................................4Keeping Pace with the Profession ....................6Faculty Profile ...................................................8Souther Endowment .........................................9Staff News ..................................................... 10

ProfessionalAlumnus Profile.............................................. 11LUTE Remodel ............................................... 12Alex Thayer Patent......................................... 13Internships..................................................... 14Co-op With Speech Communication et al. ...... 15Awards and Honors....................................... 16

InternationalInternational Roundup................................... 18Technical Japanese ........................................ 19

In the Real World ..................................... 20

Page 3: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

Over the past few years, TC has built up a record of excellence and achievement in under-graduate teaching and learning worthy of a great distinction. Last spring in recognition of its accom-plishments, TC received the 2nd annual Brotman Award established by President Richard L. McCor-mick to recognize excellence within programs and departments.

Thanks to a generous gift to the University in 1996 from Jeffrey and Susan Brotman, each year the Brotman Award selection team grants a total of $35,000 to programs who have demonstrated out-standing accomplishments. Last year, the Brotman Award was given to the Computer Science Depart-ment. This year, two distinguished departments share the Award—TC and Comparative History of Ideas in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Many aspects of the TC department distinguish it from others. The Brotman Award recognizes TC’s continued commitment to taking a highly developed active learning approach.

The first segment of the TC Department’s active learning approach is its experiential science-writing pathway and an associated student-staffed magazine. In this curriculum, students research, write, edit, and select illustrative material for stories, many of which are published in Northwest Science & Technology, a professional-quality regional magazine.

Under the management of curriculum director and magazine editor Professor Deborah Illman, stu-dents have just recently produced the fourth issue that will be distributed to over 20,000 people includ-ing regional high school science teachers and coun-selors. The magazine plays a role in recruiting students to the study of science and technology by making a positive impact on science and engineering literacy among future students.

TC has also launched a peer tutor program that allows students to capture and reflect their primary

interests in a classroom setting or in the TC comput-ing lab. Under faculty supervision, students define an agenda of activities intended to help their peers learn more about the technologies available for communi-cation design. The students in this program develop the ability to understand the needs of audiences and overcome barriers for their understanding of infor-mation.

The TC department is currently working on other projects to further enhance students’ active learning experiences. The goal of the TC program is to give its students a coherent, cohesive, mean-ingful learning experience. To cultivate this experi-ence, TC also plans to organize international summer workshops in Germany and Ireland that will give students a chance to immerse themselves in interna-tional activities.

The TC program provides opportunities for stu-dents to play an authoritative role in their own educa-tion, and the Brotman Award recognizes that students who complete such a program benefit significantly from outstanding educational experiences. TC

Department chair Judy Ramey and alumna Anita Salem (‘97) demon-strate the use of the Laboratory for Usability Testing & Evaluation.

Phong Nguyen

posTComm AUTUMN 2000 1

TC Wins Brotman Award

Department News

Page 4: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

Success! After a decade of requests from TC alumni and several previous attempts to get funding through the state leg-islature, the TC department is now excited to offer a Master of Science in Technical Communica-tion. Offered through UW Edu-cational Outreach (UWEO), this self-sustaining program addresses people who want to stay employed while they pursue an advanced degree.

With classes beginning Autumn quarter 2000, regular TC faculty will teach courses in the evening master’s program. As an official University of Washington degree program, the evening mas-ter’s program promises to maintain the same high standards of quality currently held by the department’s daytime program.

The evening master’s program is as good as the daytime program but offered at a later time. It offers new and redesigned courses in addition to new methods of dis-seminating information. Each pro-gram course falls into one of four categories:

The program requires stu-dents to take two classes from each category, as well as two sections of a Speaker Series. The Speaker Series consists of one-hour lectures, often presented by visiting faculty or people in the industry, and are usually offered during the day. Stu-dents have the option of attending these lectures, or viewing them via streaming video on a password-secure Web site.

Students in the evening pro-gram have three options for com-pleting the degree requirements. The first, and probably most popu-lar, is to complete 48 credits based on coursework alone. The second option requires students to com-plete a minimum of 36 credits in course work, and then complete a 5-credit internship and a 4-credit project/project report. Students may conduct the internship at their current employment. The third is the thesis option in which students are required to complete a mini-mum 36 credits of course work, in addition to a 9-credit master’s thesis.

Students can expect to com-plete the program in two years by taking two classes per quarter and one speaker series per year. Begin-ning next year, classes may also be offered during Summer quarter, allowing students to complete their degrees in less than two years.

To qualify for the evening master’s program, students must meet both the UW graduate school

and TC graduate program require-ments. Students must have a min-imum grade point average of 3.0 in the last two years of their bachelor’s degree, and must also take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). The program welcomes both matriculated and non-matric-ulated students; however, non-matriculated students are only accepted on a space available basis with an instructor’s permission.

• Theory• Society & Technology• Research Methods• New Media Design and

Applications

Bruce Weber

The TC department is cur-rently accepting applications for winter quarter admission to the evening master’s pro-gram.

The deadline for submitting applications is November 1, 2000. For more information on application procedures and program requirements, visit the evening master’s section of the TC Web site at:

www.uwtc.washington.edu/spotlight/eve-ms/default.htm.

AUTUMN 2000 posTComm2

TC Gets Evening Master’s Program

Department News

Page 5: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

Students entering the newly formed TC evening master’s degree program come from a wide assortment of careers and backgrounds-but all have a common pur-pose: to obtain a master’s degree while continuing to work in their current jobs. Three of the students who began their studies this fall share some insight into what brought them to the TC depart-ment.

Tim Dowd, Senior Software Engineer at Intermec, has been in software devel-opment for the past 20 years, after graduating from San Jose State in Math-ematics. In his current position at Inter-mec, he specializes in User Interface (UI) Design. Tim says, “I have been searching for a master’s program that will not only accommodate my current 40-hour+ workweek, but will challenge and equip me to put more usable products and data in front of users.” He goes on, “My ultimate career objective is to become an ever-evolving usability professional.” When not designing UIs, Tim writes mys-tery short stories for the Internet. “I am fascinated by the phenomenon and potential of the Web.”

Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product Information Team at HomeGrocer.com. Andrew has a bachelor’s degree in Eng-lish Literature and has been working in the technical communication field for the past two years. “I need a program that allows me to stay in the Seattle area and continue working during the day. The TC program is a natural extension of the editing and page layout work I am cur-rently involved in, and the class schedule does not interrupt my career,” he says.

Colin Birge, a Program Manager in the Office group, has been with Microsoft for three years. After graduating in 1996 with a concentration in psychology and creative writing from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, Colin started in the high-tech field. He says, “I want to explore new ways to design software for ease of use and be able to describe that software in terms a new or experienced user can understand. The TC department seems a perfect fit for what I want to learn, but I’m not able to leave my job for graduate school. The evening program is a wonderful compromise that allows me to pursue my master’s degree while maintaining my employment and career. I’m looking forward to an exhausting and exhilarating time.”

Evening Degree Students Have Similar Goals

We wish Tim, Andrew, Colin, and all the evening degree students success in both their careers and in the new TC evening master’s program! TC

“My ultimate career objective is to

become an ever-evolving usability

professional.”

“The evening program is a wonder-

ful compromise that allows me to

pursue my master’s degree while

maintaining my employment and

career.”

posTComm AUTUMN 2000 3

Department News

Page 6: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

When Beth Kolko is not traveling the world, or enjoying her favorite blues music, she is preparing for a full-time position as part of the University of Washington’s Department of Technical Communica-tion faculty. Kolko’s last position was as Associate Pro-fessor of English at the University of Texas, Arlington, where she developed MOOScape, a MOO (multi-user object oriented domain) that helps us understand how race is perceived and understood in cyberspace. Beth Kolko will teach in the daytime curriculum as well as evening master’s degree program classes at UW.

After earning her bachelor’s degree in English from Oberlin College in 1989, Beth went on to earn her master’s and doctorate degrees in English from the University of Texas in Austin. Her dissertation is titled “Writing the Romance: Cultural Studies, Community, and the Teaching of Writing.” Beth’s experience includes a long list of publications and presentations pertaining to computers and writing all over the world.

Describing herself, Beth says she is “a relentless optimist…with a strong sense of irony and adventure, and a heartfelt refusal to take myself seriously.” Her sense of adventure has taken her traveling across the globe and has roused her love of the outdoors.

Beth was drawn to UW because of its real blend of rhetoric and new media as well as the “fascinating backgrounds of the faculty and the projects of the students.” The idea of a TC program within a college of engineering compelled Kolko “because of what it communicated about students’ preparation and goals.”

The range of TC courses and how they fit together within the College of Engineering suited Kolko’s line of work perfectly. Kolko’s focus in her pre-vious experience was on interactive new media tech-nologies and issues of community; now her focus is expanding to international issues and technology.

Broadening her focus to include international issues and technology, Beth was recently awarded a Fulbright Grant, which she will use to teach at the University of World Economy and Diplomacy in Tash-kent. Tashkent is one of Seattle’s sister cities and is the capital of Uzbekistan located in Central Asia. Kolko will study how the emergence of the Internet is effecting Uzbekistan’s communities. Her international experiences will delay her start at UW until January.

We are so excited to have Beth Kolko as a new addition to our existing unique, talented, and gifted faculty. Beth has so much diverse knowledge and many unusual experiences to draw from while teach-ing at UW. We all look forward to sharing her knowl-edge, experience, and expertise! TC

Kolko says she is “a relentless optimist…with a strong sense of irony and adventure, and a heartfelt refusal to take myself seriously.”

The idea of a TC program within a college of engineering compelled Kolko “because of what it communicated about students’ preparation and goals.”

Cali Coles

AUTUMN 2000 posTComm4

Department News

New Faculty Profile: Beth Kolko

Page 7: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

This past winter the TC department ended its quest for a new assistant professor of Rhetorical and New Media Theory and Practice when they hired Geoff Sauer. Previously Geoff was part of the English department at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) where he taught in the Technical Communication and Communication Planning and Design programs. He received his undergraduate degree from University of Notre Dame in 1990, his master’s degree from CMU in 1993, and his Ph.D. from CMU in 1998.

Geoff has a variety of work experiences and proj-ects that make him a good match for the TC depart-ment. In high school, he worked as a printer in a print shop and, as an undergraduate, he worked as a typesetter and graphic designer at an advertising agency. After graduating from Notre Dame he worked at a shipbuilding firm in its engineering department doing technical writing.

For the past six years, while getting his degree at CMU, he worked as a new media consultant, most recently for large law firms that were concerned about online intellectual property issues. Some of Geoff’s projects and accomplishments are: designer and Web-master of Streaming Audio and Video; editor of Bad Subjects: Political Education for Everyday Life, and an occasional issue editor, contributor, and Webmaster; designer and Webmaster of the CMU English depart-ment Web site; co-editor of a book published with NYU press; author, designer, and active member of the editorial board for Cultronix; one of three Web-masters for Cultural Logic; and designer of a new Web site for the local chapter of Greater Pittsburgh ACLU. For more information on these projects, and also to see what he is currently working on, you can visit his Web site at http://eserver.org/geoff/.

Geoff has many different areas of expertise resulting from his various work experience and numer-ous projects. The specific areas Geoff specializes in are new media design, desktop publishing design, graphic design, intellectual property, critical theory and cul-tural studies, and rhetorical theory. In graduate school

he also did some user testing work with Bellcore, and therefore has experience with usability as well.

Autumn quarter Geoff begins his career at the UW teaching TC 501, Theoretical Dimensions of Technical Communication. With regard to how he teaches his classes, he warns that he likes to have his students read a lot because he believes that it is an important aspect of students’ learning. He will teach TC 310 (The Computer in Technical Communi-cation) and TC 510 (Information Design). Geoff is also interested in teaching a class dealing with how changes in economics have lead to changes in com-munication practices.

In Geoff’s spare time he enjoys reading mystery novels, spending time with his cats, listening to music, and going out with his friends. Currently he is also learning to rollerblade around Greenlake. Since Geoff is new to the Seattle, area he does not know many people yet, so he wants you to know that his door is always open and to feel free to drop by and visit. TC

Geoff consults undergraduate student, Amy Enloe, about her senior study.

Gretchen Janecke

posTComm AUTUMN 2000 5

Department News

New Faculty Profile: Geoff Sauer

Page 8: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

TC Granted $92k by Student Technology Fee

Anyone who has worked in the TC field can tell you how valu-able it is to have a good handle on the latest tools available to pro-fessionals. In our profession, it’s important for students to have advanced technical skills, especially for understanding the complex issues involved in content and information management. The clear, solid theory that TC instills in its students is augmented tre-mendously when those students learn to apply that theory while working with the same tools that they will be using in the workplace. Unfortunately, though the depart-ment recently upgraded computers and lab space, students have con-tinued to struggle with antiquated software and problematic network-ing service. The department, aware of its need to keep students on the competitive edge, decided to confront the issue head-on with a request for $93k from the Universi-ty’s Student Technology Fee.

The Student Technology Fee (STF) is a portion of money bud-geted each year for funding tech-nology and equipment for UW’s various departments. In order to receive funding from the STF, departments must submit a pro-posal abstract and budget outlining their needs. To develop the pro-posal, Judy Ramey, TC Depart-ment Chair, enlisted the talents of TC students Stephen Vick and Joey Masterson, as well as Dave Wilder, TC computer support staff. Work-ing with Judy and Dave, Stephen and Joey developed a careful pro-posal with an abstract outlining four key arguments for the depart-ments needs:

1) TC students need a stable, flex-ible work environment. 2) TC students need advanced technical skills. 3) TC students need high-tech tools for Web development. 4) TC students need tools for traditional documentation develop-ment.

In addition, the proposal out-lined the budget for $93,718.11 worth of software and network equipment, all of which directly corresponded to the arguments outlined in the abstract. The pro-posal was submitted in January of this year and was reviewed by the STF committee. In a trium-phant success for the department, the STF committee granted all but $1200 of the proposed technology budget, allowing TC to continue

in its unceasing push to keep its students on the competitive cut-ting-edge. Ramey believes the pro-posal was granted because it was the effort of a team of both staff and students, and because it was “very clear about why we needed the funding, and it was strongly grounded in a knowledge of our students and employers.”

The money granted by the STF will continue to allow our stu-dents to get hands-on experience to carry them into the workplace as competent, intelligent profes-sionals.

Items granted by the STF include:

Hardware:New lab server16 Lab workstation upgrades4 New workstations for Technical Japanese Program

Software:Symantec Visual Café 4 ExpertMicrosoft Visual Studio 6Microsoft Office 2000Microsoft Project 2000Adobe GoLiveAdobe PhotoshopAdobe InDesignAdobe FrameMakerAdobe IllustratorAdobe AcrobatMacromedia DreamweaverMacromedia FireworksMacromedia DirectorMacromedia FlashMacromedia FreehandNetObjects Fusion

Todd Billow

A group of TC grad students work in the newly updated TC computer lab.

AUTUMN 2000 posTComm6

Department News

Keeping Pace With the Profession

Page 9: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

Another Success at the Engineering Open House

This year’s engineering open

house was a smashing success for the department of Technical Com-munication. Students ranging in age from 6 to 17 years old visited the University of Washington for the annual event for which all departments in the engineering school strut their stuff! The field of technical communication is grow-ing so rapidly that students flocked to the basement of Loew Hall to find out what it’s all about.

The visiting students, teach-ers, and parents entered the base-ment hallway in Loew and story boards met their eyes. Large, color-ful display boards provided visitors with explanations of what TC is all about and what technical commu-nicators do. Further down the hall, profiles of working UWTC grad-uates provided first-hand accounts of technical communicators in the real world. Examples of usability tests and Web sites created by students in TC courses showed visitors how TC students put their knowledge to work practi-cally. Finally, computers lined the remainder of the hall, each loaded with Adobe Photoshop for students to manipulate the digital photos they took with the department’s camera.

By the end of the afternoon, the digital camera was a hit and kids came running to the TC

department to trade heads with a friend on film, or see themselves with blue hair.

After being drawn in by the camera, visitors found the informa-tion boards enticing and the prem-ise of the TC department exciting, diverse, and practical in today’s technology-centered world. Many visiting students are now consid-ering pursuing TC as a major upon entering college, after learn-ing about the fun jobs that techni-cal communicators get to do! TC

Visiting Committee

As the scope of the field con-tinues to expand, students continu-ingly need to be informed of what the marketplace will require from them as technical communicators. As part of the department’s con-tinuing effort to be conscious of the needs of employers, TC hosted a luncheon with business leaders and professionals during this year’s engineering open house.

Over lunch at the Faculty Club, TC faculty had the opportu-nity to hear from several company representatives about their needs and concerns as employers. Accord-ing to Judy Ramey, department Chair, the group had a “lively and interesting discussion,” during the course of which two major threads of thought became apparent. The professionals in the commitee all agreed that they have two require-ments of technical communicators

coming into their businesses. First and foremost, they agreed that stu-dents still need to have the ability to write well and communicate clearly--without that core, there is little room to grow. Secondly they agreed that it is important for stu-dents to have business maturity and awareness; they need to under-stand how to work in groups, dealing with constraints and cross-cultural issues, and other chal-lenges.

Ramey hopes to continue the tradition of the visiting comittee in the future, saying that “the depart-ment is really looking forward to continued interaction with the business community.”

The Visiting Committee Attendees included:

Lori Fisher (IBM)Brian Yoshinaka (Intel)Carl Chatfield (Microsoft)Aki Namioka (Active Voice; Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility)David Keyes (City of Seattle)Bob Boiko (Chase Bobko)Donna Sakson (Sakson & Taylor)Chris Glover (Real Networks)

Autumn Arbury

Todd Billow

posTComm AUTUMN 2000 7

Department News

Page 10: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

Dr. Mark P. Haselkorn is Professor and Found-ing Chair (1985-97) of the Department of Technical Communication. He has enjoyed nearly two decades of leadership in information technology areas such as usability, multimedia, and international technical communication. He has established himself as one of the nation’s leading experts on the use and impact of information systems.

Last year, the National Academies of Science and Engineering turned to TC Professor Mark Hasel-korn to lead a team of researchers investigating how to better manage new information infrastructures

in preparation for Y2K. The resulting study, “Manag-ing Vulnerabilities Arising from Global Infrastructure Interdependencies: Learning from Y2K,” has involved numerous TC students, including graduate assistant William Washington. Professor Haselkorn has incor-porated the information gathered from their research into his TC 520 (Technical Communication Manage-ment) course. The research was supported not only by the National Research Council (NRC), but also the U.S. Air Force and IEEE. There was also international cooperation with the European Community (DGXIII) and Japan through the Center for Global Communi-cations in Tokyo (GLOCOM).

In February of 1995, Dr. Haselkorn began his study of the Y2K problem and spent the 1997-98 aca-demic year on assignment with the National Science Foundation as Coordinator for Year 2000 External Activities. Prior to leading the NRC project, he was chair of the Y2K Coordinating Committee for IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization. He was also a member of a number of working groups for the U.S. President’s Year 2000 Conversion Council and was featured in numerous articles and shows on the subject, including National Public Radio’s “Talk of the Nation: Science Friday.” Dr. Haselkorn spoke internationally on the Year 2000 problem including a South American tour to Peru, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Uruguay. In addition to his Y2K studies, Dr. Haselkorn was also a leading researcher in the area of Intelligent Transportation Systems with fund-ing between 1989 and 1995 of over $5,000,000.

The Department of Technical Communication is proud to have such a prominent faculty member lead-ing the international Y2K research effort and we look forward to teaching and applying the lessons that were learned in Dr. Haselkorn’s research to improve organi-zational strategies for managing information and com-munications. TC

Phong Nguyen

Founding department chair, professor Haselkorn, takes a break and catches up with current department chair, Judy Ramey.

AUTUMN 2000 posTComm8

Department News

Faculty Profile: Mark Haselkorn

Page 11: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

There’s no better way to give back to the Technical Communi-cation department than donating to an endowment. Endowments are large sums of money, typically upwards of $30,000, that the department invests and then uses the interest from to pay for stu-dents’ scholarships, conferences, and other activities that the depart-ment cannot afford with only State funding. The best part about an endowment is that it’s a never-ending savings account for the department because the original invested amount of money is never spent. If the TC department continues to build endowment funds, eventually the department will be able to offer a wide range of amenities to students. The TC depart-ment then becomes more competitive than ever and can attract the best students. The endowment process is reciprocal and has nothing but good benefits from all angles.

James Prekeges (‘84) has started his second endowment challenge. He has given $15,000 in the name and honor of Jim Souther, one of the founding fathers of TC as a profession and the UWTC department.

As a professor in the TC department, Jim Souther was a strong mentor. His students are now corporation owners, depart-

ment managers, consultants, vol-unteers, and even current TC department chairs. As a friend, Jim was affectionately known as “Yoda” and looked to for advice, both pro-fessional and personal.

Jim passed on November 5, 1993, but we can all remember his glowing presence and honor his legacy that still lives in the students whose lives he touched. By giving to the Souther endowment, you are honoring Jim and extending his influence to current and future TC students.

James P. has challenged the department and TC alumni to make donations eventually match-ing and therefore doubling the $15,000 original donation by December of 2000. All donations are tax deductible and further the success of the TC department and its students. Alumni can reap the benefits of donating to endowment funds by having superior students to hire after they graduate.

Alumni have been very gener-ous in the past with endowment donations. Last year, James gave $15,000 in the name of Mike

White and challenged the department to match it and the endowment was a $30,000 success! $100 dona-tions are not much these days compared to the starting sala-ries in the TC industry, and all of those $100 donations add up fast. If you would like to donate, visit the department’s Web site for instructions and the donation form:

www.uwtc.washington.eduTC

Let’s make the Jim Souther endowment a success! Even $50 takes the department one step closer to matching the $15,000 challenge. Remember your up and coming employees and favorite TC professors and donate, donate, donate!

Autumn Arbury

posTComm AUTUMN 2000 9

Department News

The James W. Souther Endowment

Page 12: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

Kyle Knopp: Kyle is a new addition to the TC depart-ment staff. His main priority is to provide computer desktop and network support to both the TC depart-ment and the Industrial Engineering department. Kyle comes to the TC department from a small town in northern Minnesota called Ely, where he taught Web design, HTML, and JavaScript at Bound-ary Waters Computer Camp in addition to providing independent consulting. He is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and plans to continue a four-year degree plan at the UW.

Jeff Babauta: Jeff is going on his third year with the TC department. He is an assistant to Alice Meyer, doing everything from correspondence and faculty support to helping new students find their way around. Jeff is a senior at UW, persuing a double major in Anthropology and History with a minor in Technical Communication. He likes to teach himself the guitar and harmonica in his spare time and loves Bob Dylan.

Stephen Vick: Stephen has been a dedicated Com-puter Lab Assistant for the TC department for eight months. He is originally from Salem, Oregon and came to Seattle to major in the UWTC program. Stephen’s contribution to the TC department are various including assisting students, faculty, and staff with computer support, helping Paul maintain the TC lab, and writing the Student Technology Fee pro-posal that helped the TC department get a 92K grant for the lab. Stephen is tri-lingual, speaking German and Sign Language in addition to his native language of English. In addition to his heavy involvement with deaf culture, Stephen also enjoys frequently attending concerts of his favorite music artists that are playing in town.

Paul Nortrom: Paul is a new addition to the TC department as of March 2000. Paul relocated to the Seattle area from St. Louis, Missouri to take the lead as our Senior Computer Manager. Paul previously worked as a computer tech and help desk manager at The Principia Upper School in St. Louis. He provides the TC department with complete network support, desktop support, and any other issues that deal with the TC computer lab. Paul enjoys hiking, biking, roll-erblading, and racing cars with the Sports Car Club of America.

Alice Meyer: Alice is the new Administrator for the TC department. She manages all budgets and personnel issues related to TC. She works closely with Jeff and supports Judy Ramey with creating departmental brochures and providing departmental support. Alice’s hobby is her grandkids; she enjoys attending their soccer and baseball games and taking them to tae kwon do lessons. Alice also visits Alaska frequently to see her two grandkids who live there.

TC

TC Staff from left to right: Paul Nortrom, Alice Meyer, Kyle Knopp, Jeff Babauta, and Stephen Vick.

AUTUMN 2000 posTComm10

Staff News

Department News

Autumn Arbury

Page 13: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

In my dealings with governments and industry around the world, I don’t think that the UW Techni-cal Communication program could have been more instrumental in helping me prepare for my job. There are many hurdles in designing aviation systems--politi-cal, cultural, and individual--as well as other factors that have nothing at all to do with technical part of the problem. Good communication skills are a vital part of advancing the technology.

After receiving a BSEE at the University of Cin-cinnati in 1979, I took a job at Boeing in Seattle as an avionics engineer. I worked on 757/767s initially, and then worked on flight management systems for 737-300s as a customer service engineer. I also worked as a training instructor.

After my time at Boeing, I went to work for the FAA as a certification engineer, working on thrust management systems and flight management. Later, I moved to an information technology office and deployed office automation and communication sys-tems throughout our regional and field offices in the Seattle, Denver, Anchorage, and Los Angeles areas. Now I am the Chief Scientific and Technical Advisor for Aeronautical Communications for the FAA.

I advise the international com-munity in applying communi-cation technologies to systems so that aircraft and air traffic control centers can exchange information. I help write regulatory standards to ensure systems that are safe, effective, and internationally usable.

I worked for a manager who supported me one hundred percent in pursuing my master’s degree, and I saw the TC master’s program as a great way to sharpen my skills in technical communication. Most of this technology is never developed by any one individual, and in my job, it is important to have good communication skills, not only in communicating requirements for safe designs, but also in how the communication systems for air traffic control can be built in a way that is useable and safe. TC

Chief Scientific and Technical Advisor for Aeronautical Communications, FAA

posTComm AUTUMN 2000 11

ProfessionalAlumnus Profile: Tom Kraft

Page 14: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

The Laboratory for Usability Testing and Evaluation (LUTE), the TC department’s most widely used research facility, has recently undergone a facelift. Located in the basement of the Engineering Library, LUTE has received both a physical makeover and a rejuvena-tion of purpose.

Two sound proof rooms are the result of the physical remodel-ing of LUTE. The larger of these is a multipurpose room where most of the testing and evaluation takes place. This space is again divided into two areas separated by cubicle-type partition walls with the con-trol center comprising the smaller of these two areas. The control center contains the video monitors for observing, and editing equip-ment for creating tapes of high-lights. The larger area has a computer workstation for software

or Web site testing, a conference table for focus groups and meet-ings, and video cameras to record the testing. Whiteboards and push-pin boards cover several of the walls and are used for prototyping and data analysis. With its large screen TV monitor, the other soundproof room serves as an observation room, which allows cli-ents to come and go without dis-turbing the proceedings. A second editing station and an workspace for the manager of LUTE will be added.

LUTE’s purpose can be best exemplified by its slogan, “Technol-ogy in harmony with human per-formance.” Professor Judy Ramey, the lab’s founder and faculty advi-sor, states, “Our mission is to contribute to achieving this har-mony through better understand-ing of users.” The people involved in LUTE are able to accomplish this in four ways. First, the lab is used for funded research, such as the study funded by IBM, of med-ical imaging practices and proce-dures (1989-1992). Second, LUTE is a way for students and com-panies to come together through internships and special projects. Third, students and faculty con-duct research into usability meth-ods and procedures, such as graduate research conducted by Ted Boren, a TC master’s program alumnus, into the thinking-aloud protocol. Finally, LUTE supports classes and lectures, both within

and outside the TC department, that emphasize usability testing.

LUTE is a research facility; however, companies can benefit from its existence. For example, a company with a usability project can use TC students to conduct the testing, either through a special project or as part of TC 517, Usability Testing. LUTE is also available for use during times when student projects or research is not taking place. UW requirements for informed consent of research par-ticipants must be met. If you are interested in providing a product for testing in TC 517, contact Judy Ramey by the end of Novem-ber at [email protected], or call 206.543.2588. If you are interested in LUTE availability, contact Connie Missimer, LUTE lab manager, at [email protected]. TC

Jeff Babauta and Professor Geoff Sauer work in the LUTE lab.

Jeff Babauta analyzes notes on the data wall in the LUTE lab.

Bruce Weber

AUTUMN 2000 posTComm12

Professional

The LUTE Lab Gets Remodeled

Page 15: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

A Ph.D. or twenty years of experience is no longer required to patent a unique idea or design. Attributes such as age and tenure are no longer a priority in the tech-nology industry. The values of this dynamic industry include creativ-ity, demonstrated understanding, passion, and experience. The UW Technical Communication Depart-ment’s own Alex Thayer recently returned from a co-op at IBM in San Jose, CA where he displayed those values and has a patent pend-ing for the design of a software interface.

Alex graduated with a BSTC this June 2000 and has accom-plished many things during his time as a student in the TC depart-ment. His co-op at IBM was a crucial experience in his develop-ment as a technical communicator. Alex was working on an IBM prod-uct called Digital Library. Digital Library is a customizable software product that customers use to store and display a database composed of items in any file format.

One of IBM’s Digital Library customers, the Vatican, purchased Digital Library and customized it to display art on the Internet for a fee. Part of the Vatican’s customiza-tion was to put a watermark on each art image, which served as a tracking device so people were sure to pay for each downloadable image. In order for the Vatican to alter the Digital Library software, it needed an interface through which

it could perform the customization. This is where Alex contributed to the development of Digital Library.

Alex wrote Application Pro-gram Interface (API) information about Digital Library that tells cus-tomers how to customize the soft-ware. His API information was over 2,000 pages long, and many of Alex’s co-workers dealing with it complained about the difficulty of accessing specific information in the 2,000 pages

Alex then took initiative and independently designed an inter-face portal to overlay the lengthy API information. The interface portal Alex designed lets users easily access different parts of the API document. Alex’s co-workers at IBM found his design useful and impressive and immediately sug-gested a patent.

Alex wrote a description of his interface portal for IBM’s patent attorneys to read and review. The attorneys had to research and determine whether Alex’s interface was patentable, and then apply for the patent. Because Alex created the interface while he worked for IBM, IBM owns the patent once it is granted, but Alex’s name is listed as the creator of the interface.

The UW Department of

Technical Communication prides itself on teaching students the abil-ity to be innovative and inde-pendent. Graduates of the TC program should be able to heavily impact the product development at any company for which they work. Alex has clearly displayed the abil-ity to innovate and incorporate his innovation in a company as large as IBM. This is an impressive accom-plishment and the TC department is proud to have Alex as a TC grad-uate. TC

Graduates of the TC program should be able to heavily impact the product development at any company for which they work.

Autumn Arbury

Alex Thayer wears his favorite shirt in San Jose during his co-op at IBM.

posTComm AUTUMN 2000 13

Professional

Alex Thayer Gets a Patent

Page 16: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

It has been my pleasure to earn my bachelor’s degree in technical communication at the University of Washington. In addition to many useful courses in the TC department, I have completed an internship at Active Voice Corporation (AV) in February of 2000, performing usability tests on Active Voice’s voice messaging software products.

While at AV, I worked on two major projects. The first project was redesigning an audio control that AV uses in all of its products, which kept me in front of the computer most of the time. I spent much of my time communicating with my “buddy,” the Design Engineer for the User Interface group at AV. I talked with him about project updates, about my ideas for new ways to do things, and sometimes even about my problems at work. In redesigning the audio control I did some extensive work with Visual Basic (VB).

The second project I worked on was a Web-based unified messaging site. I organized and conducted all the usability tests for the site. This project let me be much more interactive than my first project, which made me realize that I enjoy interactive projects that let me talk and work with people to participate in the creative process. I enjoyed my work at Active Voice Corporation. Everyone I met and worked with was helpful and encouraging.

I was somewhere between Vedauwoo, Wyoming and Niagara Falls when my class graduated last spring. I was heading for Cambridge, Massachusetts; MIT said they wanted me there immediately to begin my master’s program at the MIT media lab.

The lab is a very unusual place. It’s part of the architecture department, but the researchers come from computer engineering, music, textiles, biology, and nanotech. There is even a toy maker. Sometimes it’s hard to concentrate

on my own research because I’m always sure somebody’s working on something more interesting, such as reconfigurable computers that can

change their architecture on the fly. The lab has already produced things like Lego Mindstorms, and collaborative filtering, which Amazon.com uses to help find books you like.

I started out taking a lot of computer science and electri-cal engineering courses, but now I’m taking more biology and genetics

to study adaptive strategies in biological systems. Right now I’m working on the Interface Tailor, a program to make computers recognize and respond to users’ emotions. A computer should be able to understand what frustrates us, and try to tailor its behavior to prevent frustration.

The work here is very intense. In addition to my classes, I’m expected to be at the lab at least 40 hours a week. But the trade-off is that the things we work on here can actually reach the street someday, and that is exciting and inspiring.

Carson Reynolds, TC Alumnus (‘99)

Catherine Yi

AUTUMN 2000 posTComm14

Professional

Internships and Post Graduate Work

Page 17: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

TC has joined forces with the School of Communication and the departments of Speech Commu-nication and Political Science to co-sponsor, under the umbrella of the “Interdiscilinary Study of Communication at UW,” three new interdisciplinary doctoral pro-grams: Technology and Society, Communication and Culture, and Political Communication. Students based in one of the four participat-ing units can apply for admission to these concentrations to focus on interdisciplinary topics such as media and public policy, ethnogra-phy of communication, hypertext/multimedia theory, intercultural and international communication, and rhetorical theory and criticism.

For the next two academic years (2000-01 and 2001-02), TC graduate students will be able to participate in these programs pri-marily by incorporating some of the wide range of courses into their master’s work, or by going on to enter the Ph.D. programs of one of the other sponsoring departments. During this period, TC will be taking a proposal to offer its own Ph.D. program through the year-long approval process and, once the program is approved, imple-menting the new coursework and other program features and recruit-ing the first class of students.

Starting in Autumn 2002, then, we hope to offer doctoral work in our own department, with a focus on communication design,

study of text comprehension/perception of visuals, usability research, international technical communication, science writing, communication of public policy, and the other areas of specializa-tion in our field. Our students will then be able to enrich their TC program of study by adding one of these three concentrations, just as students in the other departments will be able to take the TC courses included in these concentrations. These options will greatly increase the breadth and flexibility of the programs in all of the participating departments.

nication design.We are also strengthening

our ties to the UW School of Information (the name for the newly expanded Graduate School of Library and Information Sci-ence, which is just launching its own new undergraduate and Ph.D. programs) and to the Department of Industrial Engineering (IE), so as to broaden our students’ access to courses and research in related areas. For instance, this year we will be offering a new course, cross-listed with the School of Information, on electronic content management, and several of our

...this year we will be offering a new course, cross-listed with the School of Information, on electronic content management, and several of our undergradu-ate and graduate students are working on a research project in Web design with IE Professor Cindy Atman.

Judy Ramey

This cooperation among the four units, funded over the last two years by UW’s Tools for Trans-formation program, has resulted not only in the design of these concentrations but also in a strong endorsement by the participating units of TC’s Ph.D. proposal, which will fill the need at UW for advanced study in applied commu-

undergraduate and graduate stu-dents are working on a research project in Web design with IE Pro-fessor Cindy Atman. Visit our Web site, uwtc.washington.edu, to learn more about all these initiatives! TC

posTComm AUTUMN 2000 15

Interdisciplinary Study of Communication

Professional

Page 18: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

Autumn Arbury

DepartmentThe TC department was awarded the Brotman Award. (Story on page 1.)

The TC deparment won the Student Technology Fee grant of $92k. (Story on page 6.)

Faculty Phil Bereano was invited to participate in the International Conference on Biotechnology and Glo-balization, Harvard University’s Center for Interna-tional Development, to present a paper on “How Risky is Safe: The Politics of ‘Sound Science’ and the Precautionary Principle.” Phil was also an invited par-ticipant in the World Health Organization’s seminars on genetically engineered crops, and he participated in the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity, cul-minating a Biosafety Protocol.

Mary Coney was awarded the Distinguished Ser-vice Award of the Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication. Mary was recognized for her continuing work in program development at UW, as well as nationally and internationally. Mary was also elected Chair of the UW Faculty Senate for 00--01.

Dave Farkas earned a Distinguished Technical Communication award from the STC for his article “The Logical and Rhetorical Construction of Pro-cedural Discourse.” Also, Dave and his wife, Jean

Farkas, held the first public offering of their new short course “Web Site Design: Principles and Practice.” The course content comes from their forthcoming textbook, Principles of Web Site Design, to be pub-lished in 2001. Visit: www.engr.washington.edu/epp/webdesign for a course description.

Deborah Illman is organizer of a symposium enti-tled “Cultivating the Civic Scientist,” to be held at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on Feb. 16, 2001.

Carol Isakson and Jan Spyridakis were awarded top honors from the STC for their article “The Influ-ence of Semantics and Syntax on What Readers Remember.”

Carolyn Plumb was elected Chair of the College of Engineering’s Council on Education Policy for 00--01.

Judy Ramey was awarded the STC Jay R. Gould Award for teaching and mentoring in the year 2000. Judy was one of three recipients internationally.

Jan Spyridakis was awarded the Excellence in Teaching award by the UW Extension program.

Mike White was selected as an STC Exemplar in the year 2000. The Exemplar program recognizes the founders, leaders, and guiding lights of the TC profes-sion.

AUTUMN 2000 posTComm16

Awards and Honors

Professional

Page 19: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

Students

Jenny Blackburn was named to the Autumn Quarter 1999 and Winter Quarter 2000 Dean’s Lists.

Cameron Bates was named to the Winter Quarter 2000 Dean’s List.

Todd Billow was named to the Winter Quarter 2000 Dean’s List.

Mimi Bramsen was nominated for the Outstanding Female Stu-dent award for the TC depart-ment’s Evening with Industry.

Jacob Burghardt was named to the Winter Quarter 2000 Dean’s List.

Scott Bush was named to the Autumn Quarter 1999 and Winter Quarter 2000 Dean’s Lists.

Matt Carr and Professor Deborah Illman were awarded an Excellence award from the inter-national publications competition of the Society of Technical Com-munication (STC) in the category of Trade/News articles. Their arti-cle, “Water World,” in the Autumn ‘99 issue of Northwest Science & Technology, was one of the three best Trade/News articles in the competition. The distinguished award is the highest rank of three awards that the STC gives in each

category. Matt was also selected to participate in the Mass Media Fellowship Program this Summer 2000, sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Grace Chang was named to the Autumn Quarter 1999 and Winter Quarter 2000 Dean’s Lists.

Jay Chow was named to the Autumn Quarter 1999 Dean’s List.

Cali Coles was named to the Winter Quarter 2000 Dean’s List.

Kara Fiechtner was named to the Summer Quarter 1999 and Autumn Quarter 1999 Dean’s Lists.

Pad Gallagher was named to the Autumn Quarter 1999 Dean’s List.

Marita Graube was named to the Autumn Quarter 1999 and Winter Quarter 2000 Dean’s Lists.

Marsha Haney was nominated by the Dean of the College of Engineering for the award of Out-standing Teaching Assistant in the College of Engineering.

Tycen Hopkins was named to the Autumn Quarter 1999 Dean’s List.

Krystene Kawahara was

named to the Autumn Quarter 1999 Dean’s List.

Amii LaPointe was named to the Autumn Quarter 1999 and Winter Quarter 2000 Dean’s Lists.

Tyler Mays was named to the Winter Quarter 2000 Dean’s List.

Joseph Opdahl was named to the Winter Quarter 2000 Dean’s List.

Madhuri Pinnamaneni was named to the Autumn Quarter 1999 Dean’s List.

Megan Shia was named to the Autumn Quarter 1999 and Winter Quarter 2000 Dean’s Lists.

Sharon Slade was named to the Autumn Quarter 1999 Dean’s List.

Alex Thayer was awarded a $2,500 scholarship from STC to support his education. He was one of eight undergraduate students in the USA to receive the scholar-ship. Alex was also named to the Autumn Quarter 1999 and Winter Quarter 2000 Dean’s Lists.

Sharon Toelken was named to the Autumn Quarter 1999 and Winter Quarter 2000 Dean’s Lists.

David Wrede was named to the Autumn Quarter 1999 Dean’s List.

posTComm AUTUMN 2000 17

Professional

Page 20: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

The Department of Technical Communication at UW is com-mitted to developing international relationships with universities and organizations worldwide. TC plays a uniquely positive role in an expanding internationalized world. In fulfilling this role, one of the higher priorities for the Depart-ment is to provide opportunities for TC students to study in other countries, and to enhance global consciousness as part of students’ education.

For the past two years TC has sent UW students to the Netherlands to experience life and academia at the University of Twente. Last spring, the Depart-ment hosted five foreign exchange students from the Netherlands.

The experience that students in this program received will have a lifelong impact on their values and perceptions. Returning stu-dents contribute to a growing pool of technical communicators who bring an informed concern to international issues. One need only talk to our students when they return from their exchange to understand the value of these expe-riences.

“You get out of it what you put into it.”--Lani Huson, a TC graduate student who took part in the international exchange pro-gram last spring described her edu-cational experience as an unlimited

independent learning experience. Lani said that her classes were a lot different than typical classes at UW. She met with her professors only once every few weeks. Stu-dents were expected to schedule their own meetings and deadlines. She expressed that the students’ learning experiences were not lim-ited to what the teachers teach them; instead it was limited to what they wanted to learn.

“Get used to riding a bike!” --Amy Enloe, a TC student who discovered that there are many cultural differences between the Dutch and Americans, was sur-prised to see her Dutch counter-parts riding bicycles everywhere. When previous exchange students told her that she was going to have to get a bicycle, she did not realize

what they really meant. To expand its international

connections, TC plans to increase both its student and faculty exchange programs with other institutions worldwide and make every effort to create and maintain networks of present and past stu-dents, faculty, and associates.

The exchange program func-tions as a means to foster cross-disciplinary education through exploring international diversity. The international exchange pro-gram has successfully enabled stu-dents both from UW and the University of Twente to immerse themselves in cultures very differ-ent from their own and pursue their interests in cross-cultural technical communication. TC

The group of TC students who spent Spring quarter ‘00 in the Netherlands. From left to right:Brent Hathaway, Lani Huson Hathaway, Jeff Alvarez, Angie Moulden, and Amy Enloe.

Phong Nguyen

AUTUMN 2000 posTComm18

InternationalInternational Roundup

Page 21: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

As a Technical Japanese stu-dent, I often wonder what it would be like to study in a discipline that could be explained in a few words at a party or other social event. I have even tried sounding out to myself phrases like “I’m studying European History,” and “I’m almost done with my MBA.” Although I envy students in these programs for the ease with which they can describe the what and why of their academic activities, I feel uniquely privileged to have discovered the Technical Japanese Program (TJP) at the University of Washington.

Any conversation about TJP has to start with the obvious question: “What is it?” Housed within the Technical Communica-tion Department, TJP allows Engi-neering Master’s students with two years of Japanese study to focus on applied advanced lan-guage skills in Technical Com-munication. The program teaches students to become effective bilingual communicators with classes that focus on reading tech-niques, oral presentation, writing/translation skills, and techniques for overcoming cultural differ-ences. Students must also complete an internship in Japan to gain the specific cultural and lexical grounding needed for a bilingual technical career in their field.

The second question I am always faced with is: “Why?” The answer, for me, is very simple.

Despite years of shared technology and economic partnership, there is still a great cultural and linguistic gap between Japan and the United States. TJP allows me to bridge that divide and to gain access to all of the new and important tech-nical information that is available only in Japanese.

“But why here?” my conversa-tion partners at parties often ask. Established in 1990, the program is currently the only one of its kind in the nation, and it occupies an essential niche in the educational environment that keeps America’s scientists and engineers competi-tive in the global arena. Classes are taught in a progressive, high-tech learning environment with the help of video-augmented edu-cational techniques and com-puter-assisted language learning programs like TJ Tutor and Lan-guage Partner, both developed within the department. TJP instructors are national leaders in technical Japanese education, and they continue to research and pub-lish in the field.

Now, as I near the comple-tion of a six-month internship in a Japanese Biotechnology firm, I feel particularly grateful to the Techni-cal Japanese Program for helping me to develop the skills necessary to work as a truly international technical communicator. Not only that, but I am also grateful that it has given me so much to talk about at parties.

For more information about TJP, check out: www.tjp.washington.edu or con-tact the TJP Director, Professor Michio Tsutsui at: [email protected] TC

Scot Ritchey is a second-year graduate student in Techni-cal Japanese and Technical Communication. Scot is cur-rently working in Japan and would appreciate care pack-ages filled with root beer and whole wheat breads. Please e-mail him at [email protected] for the address.

Scot Ritchey

posTComm AUTUMN 2000 19

International

Technical Japanese Program

Page 22: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

Barbara J. McGinn [email protected] is the Owner & President of The Write Stuff. She is listed in the International Who’s Who of Professionals. She also does active volunteer work in the community and in professional organizations.

Carol A. Taylor [email protected] is managing a group of creative professionals developing a range of media-rich Web and CD-ROM service projects for her clients. She is married with a four-year-old child and loves to garden, ski, and eat good food when she’s not focused on being a mother.

Ingrid Tenggren [email protected] is retired and left the Rat Race in 1992. She traded project schedules for kids’ sports event schedules. She prefers the latter to the former. Her current personal goal is learning how to chip out of a bunker on the 18th hole.

Doris A. Minor 1984 [email protected] graduated in 1984 with a M.S.E. with an emphasis in nuclear engineering. She has since special-ized in the management and reme-diation of radioactive wastes as well as chemical and hazardous wastes. She has been operating her own environmental consulting firm in

Seattle since 1991 and has served many clients in both the public and private sectors. She finds that her experience in Technical Commu-nication (and her earlier B.A. in English) often make the difference between whether or not a client retains her services.

Bill Muse [email protected] works at Microsoft as a Senior Principal Consultant.

Mary Cooksey Regan [email protected] eight years as a Technical Writer and Editor at IBM, Mary switched careers and went back to school to become a Physician’s Assistant. She received a Master’s degree in Physician Assistant Stud-ies at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. She is happily employed at a Family practice clinic in San Jose, where her technical writing skills come in handy for writing good, precise medical notes. Mary was married in 1995 to Briant Regan. They have a lovely Black Labrador named Casey.

Stephen M. Evans [email protected] nearly 10 years, Steve has been a practicing patent lawyer, with emphasis in computer related tech-nology patent law and foreign intel-lectual property matters, as well as selected litigation. Being a patent

lawyer in an explosive technologi-cal environment has left little room for personal development. How-ever, Steve has managed to scale St. Helens, kayak for a week in remote portions of Alaska, participate in the Couloir Extreme world’s steep-est GS ski race for 4 years, and feed his dog Bart on a regular basis. Now residing on the Eastside to avoid the heinous reverse com-mute from North Seattle to Bel-levue, Steve plans on scaling back his practice to 12 hour days, recov-ering his lost life, and participating in the Big Brothers program.

C. T. (Tom) Malley [email protected] was recently promoted to Radiological Control Manager for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard’s San Diego detachment.

Lynn McManus [email protected] is enjoying her position as the Account Manager for a proj-ect consulting team. Clients out-source technical projects to her team. Lynn has been responsible for bringing several key clients on board. She notes, “I still draw very heavily on my documentation skills, such as audience analysis, interviewing, researching, and writ-ing to perform in this role. I’m having a lot of fun and it’s exciting to be able to contribute to the suc-cess of an outstanding team.” Lynn

AUTUMN 2000 posTComm20

In the Real WorldTC Alumni

Page 23: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

and her fiancé, Steve, are remodel-ing their home in Seward Park.

Sharon Kasper [email protected] returned to Boeing in 1989 with responsibility for devel-oping and implementing processes for Design Engineering groups. In 1998, she was recognized for her achievements in the field and was designated as a Senior Principal Scientist. In 1999, Sharon had a chance to work again with her favorite professor, Jan Spyridakis, by providing Engineers and a facil-ity supporting a Japanese/English reading study that Jan was leading. Sharon’s two children, Brady (25) and Wendy (23), are both gradu-ates of UW, and she and her hus-band Jim recently celebrated their 28th wedding anniversary. Sharon is even beginning to think about joining Jim in retirement and they are shopping for a winter home in Arizona where the golf is great.

Susan Krala [email protected] still enjoys working at Micro-soft Product Support. She has been selected for promotion to Lieu-tenant Commander in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve and she was the Pacific Northwest Outstanding Reserve Junior Officer for 1999.

Paul Samek [email protected]

Paul works at PACCAR Parts as a Technical Communicator. He uses Adobe FrameMaker and Acrobat to maintain, on CD and company intranet, 4300+ pages of operations and maintenance information for Peterbilt heavy duty vehicles.

Ellen Hobbs Kawaguchi [email protected] the past four years, Ellen was a partner and Vice President of Business Development of The Data Warehousing Institute, a worldwide educational conference and membership organization. In December 1999, The Institute was acquired by 101communications, a multimedia company based in LA. Ellen oversees the strategic direc-tion and operation of The Insti-tute, which is now a division of 101communications. In Fall 1999, Ellen and her husband, Brent, had their first child, Mitchell Allen. He is now a very active and happy 7 month old.

Tom Kraft 1990 [email protected] is the FAA’s Chief Scientific and Technical Advisor for Aero-nautical Communication. Tom has over 19 years of experience as a sys-tems engineer applying digital and communication technologies to avi-onics. Before coming to the FAA, Tom worked for The Boeing Com-

pany on 737/757/767 projects. He has worked on automatic flight control systems, thrust manage-ment systems, flight management and navigation systems, and digital communication systems. He has worked in the field of aeronautical communications involving aircraft to ground, aircraft to aircraft, and aircraft to satellite applications to enhance air traffic management (ATM) in the National Airspace System (NAS), in oceanic and remote applications worldwide. He provided technical expertise to implement the future air naviga-tion system one (FANS 1) on the B747-400, B757, B767, and B777 aircraft. FANS 1 provides control-ler-pilot data communications and automatic dependent surveillance for air traffic management using ARINC 622 data communications over satellite and VHF communi-cation networks. He has an MS in Technical Communication from the University of Washington and a BSEE from the University of Cincinnati, OH in Control Theory and Communications from net-works.

Chet Hedden [email protected] completing the M.S. in tech-nical communication at the close of 1991 and the Ph.D. in education in June 1998, Chet moved to Ari-zona where he is a member of the Southern Arizona Chapter of STC.

posTComm AUTUMN 2000 21

In the Real World

Page 24: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

Doug Wieringa 1991 [email protected] is enjoying being a writer and project manager for Knowledge Anywhere (formerly Advanced Training Solutions). Knowledge Anywhere develops cus-tomized Web-based training for various clients, specializing in sales training in high-tech and health-care. They have recently branched out into software tutorials and ori-entation sites for new employees. They also have a large curriculum of general-interest classes, at www.knowledgeanywhere.com.

Joy (Tollman) Lashley [email protected] documentation teams that Joy has been part of won awards in the STC Carolina Chapter’s Technical Publications Competition in Feb-ruary 2000. Joy currently manages and writes help for SAS/EIS(TM) software. She is also the project lead for Solutions@Work(R): Applications Development Exam-ples, which provides customers with “real life” examples and SAS code that they can download from the Web to customize their appli-cations. Joy’s husband, Michael, earned his private pilot’s license in early 1999, so they have been exploring the state of North Caro-lina by plane. She also volunteers her “spare” time to her sorority, Alpha Omicron Pi. On April 14, 2000, Joy was appointed by the AOII Executive Board to serve as an Alumnae Network Specialist for the 12 alumnae chapters in Vir-

ginia, North Carolina, South Caro-lina, and Georgia. She also serves as an AOII adviser at Duke University. In June 2000, Joy completed a two-year term as the President of the AOII Triangle Alumnae Chapter.

Carol Robinson [email protected], a usability specialist at UW Computing and Communications, is pleased to be back at the Uni-versity--she said it feels like home. Carol has a kitten named Duke and a cat named Sadie.

Robin Taylor [email protected] less than two years with Doyle Training’s Bellingham office, Robin has risen to the rank of lead training consultant. Tasked with developing custom training manu-als for various pulp and paper cli-ents, Robin co-manages a staff of four. Having recently moved to the Birch Bay area of Blaine, Robin is still settling in after the big move. Married with two children, Robin is working on his second and third books (“Gunracing with a Glock,” and “Nine Lives of Bush Pilot”) in his free time.

Chuck Martin [email protected] has completed evening classes in Introduction to Psychol-ogy and Introduction to UNIX. He wrote, edited, and managed the pro-duction of the daily newsletter at the 8th annual WinWriters Online

Help Conference. He designed, maintained, and kept updated his basketball league’s Web site (http://www.gaybasketball.com/league/) and designed and created the Golden Gayte Classic basket-ball tournament’s Web site http://www.gaybasketball.com/ggc/2000/.

Kevin Macduff [email protected] 1996, Kevin started and man-aged the documentation team at iCat Corporation in downtown Seattle. After hiring his team, he determined the documentation needed for all iCat software, and managed documentation develop-ment until Intel bought iCat in 1998. Kevin then worked as a contractor at Microsoft, writing documentation in the Commerce group until September of 1999. Kevin is now the manager of the Information Development Team at DataChannel, Inc. in Bellevue. He manages the development of product training courseware, Web-based product training, software developer kits, online end-user and administrator help, printed admin-istrator installation and configura-tion guides, and product release notes. Kevin’s team is part of the engineering department for DataChannel’s Enterprise Informa-tion Portal software, DataChannel Server (DCS). DCS is a business to anyone software product that pro-vides customers access to all data from disparate sources. In addition to managing the development of all documentation surrounding

AUTUMN 2000 posTComm22

In the Real World

Page 25: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

DCS, Kevin owns his own private consulting company, BlueLine Consulting, L.L.C. For more infor-mation about DataChannel, visit http://www.DataChannel.com.

Kathy Furtado [email protected] led Group Health’s original WWW project, then developed an intranet site for the IS department. She currently manages the ISD site and is focusing on how to make Internet technologies more useful, accessible, and sensible. She is involved with the local SIGCHI (usability) and Medical Writers groups.

David Oberstadt [email protected] is a Software Engineer at IBM, Santa Teresa Lab. He was named as a co-inventor on six pat-ents that were filed earlier this year. He authored two white papers on database performance, authors and maintains numerous IBM Web pages, and works on the DB2 for OS/390 Command Reference. David decided to take up a new hobby after his father gave him his old 30/06 rifle--hunting the wild boars in the California hills. No hits yet, but it is still early. David recently bought a house in Gilroy, the garlic capital of the world.

Tami Settergren [email protected] Tami is enjoying herself writing user manuals, online help, and ser-

vice manuals for digital multime-ters, LAN test tools, and other electronic test equipment at Fluke Corporation. She currently lives in Everett with her significant other, and spends her free time windsurf-ing in the Columbia River Gorge, skiing, scuba diving, and practicing archery.

Paula D. Thomson [email protected] graduating in August 1994, Paula worked three years with the CIA as a Russian linguist writing analyses, editing, translating, and coordinating translation of articles from the Russian press. After her office suffered major budget cuts, she decided to get back into techni-cal writing by accepting a position with KPMG LLP, where she was responsible for editing, formatting, and converting printed documen-tation into online help. She also designed templates and style guides for their business software pack-ages’ user guides, training materi-als, and test plans. After about a year, she went to work for Genesis Software Corporation, where she undertook various projects with Genesis’ clients including Network Solutions, Road Runner, and The Dot Com Group. Just recently she accepted a position with the start up company, Parabon Computa-tion, Inc., where she develops Web help and writes content for their Web site. In her spare time she enjoys dance, yoga, hiking, and gar-dening.

Cathy Anderson [email protected] works at Microsoft as a Tech-nical Content Editor.

Kelcie Guiberson Anderson [email protected] is an Engineering Manager at Tektronix. She and her long time boyfriend, Tom Anderson, were married New Year’s Eve 1999. They have a Keeshond puppy named Misty.

Carl Chatfield [email protected] currently works at Microsoft as a Documentation Manager. His new book “Microsoft Project 2000 Step by Step” will be published in May. He is expecting second child in October!

Kathy Semple Leotta [email protected] works at Brinckerhoff Quade and Douglas, Inc. as a Sr. Transpor-tation Planner.

Rolando P. Ramos [email protected] , [email protected] recently started working as a Technical Writer at AVT Corp. in Kirkland, WA. He works with TC alumni Pamela Johnson, Manager of the (AVT) TC depart-ment. He was married in 1995. He likes to read mystery books and investment publications.

posTComm AUTUMN 2000 23

In the Real World

Page 26: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

Courtney Buchanan Kennedy [email protected] is a Senior Information Engineer/Project Manager for Intel’s User-Centered Design group in Portland, Oregon. (She’s always looking for good writers with HTML experience so send her email if you’re interested!)

Tamara Adlin [email protected] has had one job but worked for four companies: Meta-Bridge, bought by Netpodium, bought by Intervu, bought by Akamai Technologies. Tamara is currently working to build the Human Centered Design team at Akamai’s new Seattle office. She loves her team and her job and would love to hear from new grads who want jobs doing UI and/or Usability! Tamara recently bought a house in the Green Lake area.

Karen Eliasen [email protected]’s group is developing and implementing a corporate-wide tax-onomy and metadata registry in support of search on the Microsoft intranet. In addition, Karen has been responsible for establishing reliable quantitative and qualitative testing and metrics related to accessing internal and external information stores. This makes her extremely grateful to Dr. Spyrida-kis and Dr. Ramey for training her in this area. Karen lives on

Vashon Island where she and her partner run BaaHaus, a non-profit farm animal rescue group (www.baahaus.org) that currently is home to 59 abandoned or abused animals.

Bruce Gibbs [email protected] is currently employed with KPMG Consulting as an e-com-merce consultant. At KPMG Con-sulting he develops multimedia products and designs Web site front ends for e-commerce devel-opment. Bruce is also a faculty member at the Art Institute of Atlanta were he teaches courses in multimedia and Web design. He is currently working on two text-books: the first one covers issues in multimedia and Web design and the second one deals with market-ing products over the Web. Bruce resides in the metro Atlanta area with his wife Janet who is pregnant with their first child. He also has a dog name Pepper.

Gerald Ferry [email protected] started a new job at Loud-eye in February 2000, as the first technical writer for the company. He has been given the challenge of building and managing the User Education segment of the com-pany. You can find out more about Loudeye on their website at www.loudeye.com. This is Jerry’s first full time job after working in various roles as a contractor in the technology sector. Jerry got mar-

ried on May 26, 2000. He now lives in Ballard.

Sean Howard [email protected] is currently employed with a start-up company in Seattle, WA. The name of his company is Entri-com and they develop Web-based applications to provide business solutions for telecommunications companies. They currently have 30 employees but plan to hire an addi-tional 100-150 employees, which also includes technical writers. As a technical writer, he works with two other technical writers to develop a multitude of online and print doc-uments. The environment is very challenging, fast, frantic, and of course, fun! He plans to stay with the company in the years to come. In addition to his work life, he is enjoying his home life. After a major remodel of the interior, he is currently working on the exte-rior of his house. He says, it is work but he also finds it rewarding and sometimes even therapeutic. Nevertheless, he is ready for a vaca-tion and is considering a cruise to Alaska or visiting the beaches of Hawaii.

Jenny Lai [email protected] is pursuing a MS in Com-puter Science.

Pamela Denchfield [email protected] Vixel Corporation (1998-pres-

AUTUMN 2000 posTComm24

In the Real World

Page 27: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

ent), Pamela plans and writes all user documentation for Vixel’s hardware and software products. As the sole technical writer at the company, she has enjoyed learning about fibre channel from several very intelligent people, applying this knowledge to the company’s entire product line, and describing this new knowledge in a useful way for customers. At Boeing Writing and Editing Services (1997-1998), Pamela wrote and edited computer procedures. The part of this job she misses the most is the camara-derie she had with the other twenty writers. Pamela has a BSTC with a specialty in biochemistry. Her extracurricular activities include TCAA Secretary (1999-present). Pamela juggles the needs of her large blended family (three step-kids, a daughter, and a dear hus-band) with those of her job, TCAA secretary position, scout newsletter responsibilities, and book club reading schedule. Pamela enjoys reading and writing and wants to make sure others don’t miss out, so she helps literacy efforts whenever she can. She recently volunteered at the Eastside Literacy Council auction, along with several other TCAA members. Pamela thanks Donna Fulcher for enticing her to get involved with TCAA!

Donna Fulcher [email protected] November, Donna resigned from two years as a Boeing tech-nical writer to become a proposal writer for IDX, which develops

healthcare information systems. Donna researches and describes capabilities of their LastWord soft-ware to prospects. In January 2000, she attended training at a sales con-ference in Boston. In March 2000, Donna’s partner, Patrick Rivera, completed his civil engineering undergraduate studies at the UW. Their son, Bazel, starts kindergar-ten at Coho Elementary in Septem-ber 2000.

Lynn Gottlieb [email protected] still works at The Boeing Company as a Technical Writer. She is responsible for the internal and external documentation generated by her work group. Lynn completed the two-year Soft-ware Engineering Process Group (SEPG) training put on by Boeing with the blessing of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) The SEI, part of Carnegie Mellon Uni-versity, specializes in improving software engineering practices to improve the quality of systems that depend on software. She is respon-sible for the process improvement efforts in her senior manager’s organization. Lynn has a Lurcher name Sky and a cat named Comet.

Jason D. Grose [email protected] graduating in 1997, Jason has served as an Adjutant for a Tank Battalion before being advanced to the Regimental level. Jason was promoted to the rank of Captain in the Marine Corps

where he continues to use his Tech-nical Communication skills as the administration officer for an infan-try Regiment. Still stationed at 29 Palms, California with his wife and two children, Jason will be going back to school to get his Master’s degree in Information Technology Management from the military col-lege in Monterey, California.

Anita Salem [email protected] has been providing usability services through her company--SalemSystems. She has been focusing on Web applications, e-commerce, and information sys-tems with clients that range from telecommunications to e-commerce.

Deborah Harkus [email protected] works at NEXTLINK Communications, Inc. as an Engi-neering Manager.

Natasha D. Hoskins [email protected] works on a Software Development team analyzing, doc-umenting, managing, and control-ling data for a U S WEST internet-based system. She cur-rently attends the University of Denver and is a candidate for a Master’s in Electronic Commerce in June 2001. Other activities in her professional life include partici-pating as a charter member of Path-way to Technology Foundation, a

posTComm AUTUMN 2000 25

In the Real World

Page 28: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

nonprofit organization established to encourage people of color to educate themselves and become leaders in the IT industry. She is also an alumni member of INROADS, an organization devoted to placing talented youth in business and industry. Natasha will be married April 7, 2001 to Wendell Dobson. She still lives in Denver, Colorado.

Jack Huang [email protected] is responsible for the design and the creation of product Web-sites under Microsoft Office, spe-cifically Visio.

Jennifer (Holt) Pike [email protected] getting started in the field by working for IBM, Jennifer recently decided to make a move to a smaller company. She started with Software.com on May 8, 2000. Jen-nifer got married in November 1999 in Las Vegas to Jason Pike. Her son, Tyler, is 8 and her daughter,Lexi, is 4.

Amy Scott [email protected] graduating, Amy has worked as a Senior Consultant for Deloitte & Touche in the area of Edu-cational Services. Her work has enabled her to travel throughout the Western region and see how education is being created and delivered in various industries. Her current focus is on distance learn-

ing, media streaming, learning management systems, and e-com-merce. Her most recent clients include Montana Power Company and Microsoft.

David Tobler [email protected] joined VServers in July 1998 as an intern, when the company employed about a dozen people. Now with over 125 employees, VServers is consolidating its ser-vices with HostPro and Worldwide Internet under the HostPro brand. The three properties, recently acquired by Micron Electronics, together comprise the fourth-larg-est Web hosting company world-wide. David wrote virtual server administration guides for both the Unix and NT platforms. The online versions of the guides, which consistently draw praise from customers for their clarity and usefulness, are also the most frequently visited areas of the com-pany Web site. David also main-tains the Technical Support FAQ for both Unix and NT, and reg-ularly contributes material to the company Web site. HostPro pro-vides Web hosting and dedicated server solutions based on Unix, Linux, Sun, Windows NT, and Windows 2000 platforms. In May 1999, David received the Employee of the Month Award for his docu-mentation efforts.

Jeremy Watts [email protected] maintains a Word-to-Web

translation system for Boeing authors. The system uses a combi-nation of commercial off-the-shelf products and Perl scripts to parse Word documents and render them in HTML. During translation, the system breaks the content into sev-eral Web pages, builds a linked navigation menu, affixes headers/footers to each page, and delivers the result to the Boeing intranet. The system also monitors existing Word files for modification or dele-tion; in such cases, it either per-forms a re-translation so that the Web version is always up-to-date with the original, or it archives the Web version.

Mark Alway [email protected] manages UWired Web tools development for the Catalyst proj-ect. Mark has been busy managing new software development for UWired and the UW Catalyst Project. The Catalyst tools have over 925 users that Mark’s team supports while developing new in-novative tools for teaching. Mark is working as a faculty member at the Art Institute of Seattle where he teaches a new course in interface design and advanced Web page scripting. Mark also plays soccer in the Seattle Co-Rec league and works with youths, rock climbing and river rafting on the weekends. Mark has completed two-thirds of his three-year goal to climb Mt. Baker, Mt. Shuksan, and Mt. Rain-ier; he has yet to comquer Rainier.

AUTUMN 2000 posTComm26

In the Real World

Page 29: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

Ted Boren [email protected] has enjoyed his two years with Microsoft’s Geography Prod-uct Unit, working on mapping products like MapPoint, Streets & Trips, and PocketStreets. He pub-lished an article with Dr. Ramey on conducting think-alouds in usability testing; they presented a related tutorial at UPA in the Summer of 2000. Ted and his wife Kelli are enjoying the challenges of home ownership; the grass is currently long, but the flowers are beautiful. Their four kids are doing great as well.

Beth Chapple [email protected] graduation, Beth has estab-lished a business as a freelance editor for both print and on-line content. She is currently working on editing and promoting her mother’s forthcoming road guide to Yellowstone National Park. Beth, her husband, and two young boys live in a house with a view of the Cascades and go on long walks.

Sarah Huston 1999Sarah is currently employed by both Chanel and Nordstrom. Her eventual goal is to work for Chanel in their New York Corpo-rate Offices writing training manu-als and package verbiage for the Cosmetic Division. Sarah happily resides in Shoreline with her boy-friend, Sam, their two cats, and four lizards.

Matthew Jaquish [email protected] graduation in June 1999, Matt worked as a contract tech-nical writer at Intel in Dupont, WA for nine months. He recently moved to the California Bay area to start a job at Niku Corp., which involves designing user interface specifications, assisting with usabil-ity testing, and creating prototypes and graphics. Matt had reserva-tions about moving to California. Now that he has been there, he is starting to enjoy it. He still likes Seattle better because there is more rain, the environment is more beautiful, cost of living is lower, and people are more courte-ous.

Coreen McDermott [email protected] began as a Web-Designer in June 1997 as an intern at PACCAR Parts. She continued working part-time while finishing her TC degree at the University of Washington. After graduation, Coreen started working full-time at PACCAR Parts designing Intranet and Extranet Websites in English and Spanish Languages. She has recently returned to school for MCSD Certifications and will be completely certified by November 2000.

Michel A. Nash [email protected] is currently in school, learn-

ing to be a U.S. Navy Commu-nications Officer. In June 2000, she transferred to the USS VELLA GULF (CG-72) out of Norfolk, VA.

Jay Pederson [email protected] graduated and went straight to work for IBM. He is responsible for all information deliverables for IBM’s pervasive computing prod-uct, DB2 Everyplace. He is work-ing on hardcopy and softcopy publications, online information, and online help systems for work-stations and mobile computing devices. He also coordinates the translation of his information into ten languages. Jay also participates in a working group on XML. Jay has returned to UW twice to recruit students to IBM. After grad-uation, Jay moved to San Jose. He is currently touring the bay area, one weekend at a time. He has trav-eled back to Seattle several times for both business and pleasure.

Denise D. Pieratti [email protected] was recently promoted to Meter Strategy Manager at Xerox. In this role, she has the responsi-bility to develop a comprehensive meter strategy which gives Xerox a competitive advantage, reduces overall costs to acquire meter reads, and increases the revenue stream from the meter reads. Denise was selected to receive the 2000 “W Award” given by the Rochester Women’s Network. This

posTComm AUTUMN 2000 27

In the Real World

Page 30: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

award, presented annually since 1986, is given to a woman who works on behalf of women, who provides the inspiration of lead-ership, and who gives of herself so that other women may learn, grow, advance, and succeed. She was cited for mentoring women in all stages of their careers, identi-fying educational and employment opportunities, and helping them to achieve their potential; for tire-less advocacy on behalf of women and girls; and for numerous com-munity activities that promote and recognize women in business and encourage girls to excel. The Roch-ester Women’s Network was estab-lished in 1978 to foster the growth and advancement of women in the workplace and to give members the opportunity to support one another personally and profession-ally. With over 800 members, it is the largest network of its kind in the US.

Amalia Sandoval [email protected] her last year of undergradu-ate study she worked for Intermec Technologies in Everett, WA work-ing on SAP R/3 3.0e implemen-tation project. After graduating from TC in June of 1999, Amalia worked for Microsoft in Redmond, WA for 5 months working on SAP R/3 4.5b project Change Manage-ment. Then she worked for Cata-pult in Bothell, WA working on a variety of training software projects including training simulations of Windows 2000. Currently, Amalia

has relocated to San Jose, CA and is working for IBM as a Software Engineer in the SAP R/3 project team. Amalia is the National Secretary/Archivist for the Latina Sorority Gamma Alpha Omega.

Karen Sharkey [email protected] a ten-and-a-half-month internship at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where Karen spent most of her time editing technical reports, she has moved on to a position as chief technical writer for a software development firm, Vista Control Systems, Inc. The firm has clients throughout the world, and Karen will have the opportunity for travel. Her new company’s Web address is www.vista-control.com. After eight years in Seattle, Karen finds life in New Mexico a refreshing change. She hopes to return to Seattle for a visit sometime soon.

Roberta Shroyer [email protected] is a usability specialist with Tec-Ed, a user-centered design consulting firm. Working in Sil-icon Valley, Roberta designs, conducts, and presents usability studies for hardware, software, and telecommunications compa-nies. Major clients include Sun Microsystems, Cisco, and AT&T. Roberta’s article, “Actual Readers versus Implied Readers: Role Con-flicts in Office 97,” is in the May 2000 issue of Technical Communi-cation.

LeAnne Lay 2000 [email protected] completed her Master’s Degree in Technical Communica-tion at the UW. Her graduate proj-ect consisted of creating a style guide for the ALVA summer math-ematics book, an interactive Web site, a full-color poster, and a pro-gram brochure. She graduated in June 2000. Meanwhile, in her per-sonal life, LeAnne is the proud mother of 3 wonderful children, Mykale (9), Jamel (2), and Jamar (2), and one dog (Lucy--8 mo.).

AUTUMN 2000 posTComm28

In the Real World

Page 31: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

StudentsEditor in ChiefAutumn Arbury

Associate EditorsAutumn Arbury

Photography, story editor, layout assistant, production assistantTodd Billow

Graphic design, layout, story editorCali Coles

Story editorGretchen Janecke

Story editorJolee Ng

In the Real World editor

Complete List of Student ContributorsAutumn Arbury, Todd Billow, Josh Cohen, Cali Coles, Amy Enloe, Gretchen Janecke, Jolee Ng, Phong Nguyen, Carson Reynolds, Scot Ritchey, Alex Thayer, and Bruce Weber, Catherine Yi

Faculty AdvisorJudy Ramey

AcknowledgementsSarah Conradt

Consultant--graphic design, layoutUniversity Photography

Cover photo, back cover photo, and Brotman Award story photo

Thank you to all the TC faculty, staff, students, and alumni who contributed time and effort to this publication.

Department of Technical Communication University of Washington 14 Loew Hall, Box 352195 Seattle, WA 98195-2195 206.543.2567 [email protected]

Page 32: Human Centered Design & Engineering | Human …...potential of the Web.” Andrew Hinkelman, another stu-dent entering the evening master’s pro-gram, is Supervisor in the Product

TC